Hazbin Hotel: Crossroads
by InGodzHandz
Summary: A one-shot about Charlie and Satan finally having a confrontation about the Happy Hotel. Charlie has to stand up for her dream even when it costs her everything.
1. Chapter 1

The meeting with Alastor went well. As Charlie walked him to the door, she felt confident for the first time all day. She now had a sponsor. That meant the Happy Hotel would be opening its doors after all. The day had been rough. The TV announcement did not go well, and Angel had his little incident, but now everything was getting better. Soon, Charlie knew she would see results, and even sooner, she knew she could summon up the courage to tell her parents what she had been planning behind their backs…

Charlie knew something was wrong when she turned around in the doorway after showing Alastor out for the evening and saw Vaggie and Angel's faces. She knew what fear looked like, but they were absolutely terrified. They were frozen with fear, and they couldn't move. Even Vaggie, who was usually so brave and composed, looked absolutely helpless.

"Hey!" Charlie said nervously. "What's the matter?"

Charlie stepped towards them, but they took a step back.

"Charlie…" Vaggie managed to get out. "There's someone behind you…"

"What?" Charlie asked nervously turning her head around and not seeing anyone behind her. "But there's no one…AHHH!"

When Charlie turned back around, her father was standing between her and her friends. He was standing there with his arms crossed and a smirk that was hard to read. It scared her so much she hopped back against the door.

"So, my sources were correct," he said simply. "You have created a hotel to rehabilitate sinners…"

"Father," Charlie said nervously trying to catch her breath. "What a pleasant surprise. You know I don't like it when you sneak up on me like that. What are you doing here? I thought you and mother were away on business. I didn't expect you to come back so soon…"

"I'm not staying long, dear," the former Angel of Light replied in a voice that sounded pleasant despite its menacing edge. "But a grave matter has been brought to my attention that I need to discuss with you immediately."

"Oh, okay," Charlie said in her chipper tone trying to delay the inevitable. "Well, just follow me to the…"

"That won't be necessary, dear," Satan said before his neck elongated backwards until it reached the two terrified souls frozen in the back. "I do not wish to be overheard, so would you two kindly fuck off?"

Without a word, Angel grabbed Vaggie's wrist and dragged her away down the nearest hallway as quickly as he could before she could start to protest.

"Father!" Charlie yelled when Satan's neck snapped back into place. "You didn't have to do that! They're my friends!"

Satan laughed derisively, grabbed onto Charlie's hand, and said, "This is hell, Charlotte. You have to keep the damned in their place. Which leads me to the reason for my visit…"

He tapped his cane and instantly teleported them to the balcony of the building. For a second, there was nothing but heavy silence. Charlie waited for an outburst of some kind, but her father said nothing. She ran over all her rehearsed attempts at giving an explanation in her head while waiting for her father to ask the inevitable.

Instead, Satan wrapped his arm around his daughter's shoulder, walked her over to the edge of the balcony, and asked, "Charlotte, darling, when you look out there, what do you see?"

"Uh, hell?" Charlie asked nervously. "I see hell."

"Look a little harder," Satan instructed handing her a telescope. "What do you see now?"

Charlie anxiously took the telescope, looked closely into the town, and saw crowds and crowds of souls indulging in their sins. Some were drunk. Some were high. Some were just wandering aimlessly. No matter what sin they indulged in, they had one thing in common. Not one of them had a real smile on their face. They all pretended to be happy while avoiding the hopelessness that was weighing inside of them.

Charlie handed back the telescope to her father and said sadly, "I see lots of unhappy demons who could be happy, which is why…"

"Exactly," Satan replied sitting on top of the railing in front of her. "My dear Charlie, what you see before you is our legacy. When God banished me and all the other fallen ones, I vowed to corrupt the world he made and mankind with it. All the damned you see here before you are here as a result of this hard work. Every soul I manage to consume with its darkness is another bit of sorrow in his heart and a bit of victory for us…"

"Father, I know, but…" Charlie tried to interrupt before her father's eyes flashed with a fire she knew to fear.

"Every soul that goes toward the light is a soul I lose and a victory he gets to hold over me," Satan interrupted angrily as he stood up and his form and voice started to shift into something more monstrous. "With that said, I must ask. Why? Why in THE SEVEN CIRCLES OF HELL ARE YOU TRYING TO UNDERMINE EVERYTHING I HAVE ACCOMPLISHED?!"

"Father, you have enough souls," Charlie protested meekly. "There are too many people in hell. You let the angels cull them just so you have more room. I just wanted to depopulate hell more humanely so that…"

"EVERY SOUL THAT GOES TO HEAVEN IS GROUND I LOSE, CHARLOTTE!" Satan yelled angrily. "DID YOU EVER THINK ABOUT THAT BEFORE GOING OFF AND DOING SOMETHING LIKE THIS?! HUH?! DON'T YOU EVEN CARE?! WHY DO YOU THINK YOU WERE EVEN BORN?!"

"Father, I think we can be better than…"

"NO, WE CAN'T! THAT'S NOT WHAT WE ARE AND THAT'S NOT WHAT YOU ARE EITHER! WE ARE CREATURES OF DARKNESS, CHARLOTTE! AND THAT'S SOMETHING YOU CAN NEVER CHANGE!"

"But Father…"

"BUT NOTHING! WE ARE GOING HOME AND YOU ARE ABANDONING THIS RIDICULOUS DREAM RIGHT NOW! I WILL NOT HAVE YOU DRAG MY NAME THROUGH THE MUD FOR A BUNCH OF CORRUPTED SOULS WHO AREN'T EVEN WORTH IT!"

Just then, the Devil tapped his foot and set the whole building on fire before returning to his original form.

Charlie turned around and screamed in despair as she fell on her knees and burst into tears. Everything was on fire except the balcony they were standing on was covered in flames and in the distance she could hear Angel and Vaggie screaming.

Satan walked over to her, set a hand on her shoulder, and said in a more comforting tone, "Come along now, Charlie. Let's go home and forget all about this. I'll have the chef make you your favorite food. We can listen to show tunes all night long. Then you can get some rest, and I'll get you out of this place for a while. How about it?"

Charlie stopped crying and stood back up. Just as her father tried to take her hand and lead her away, she pulled it away.

"No," Charlie said quietly.

"What was that?" Satan asked. "What did you just say to me? You can take it back…"

Charlie looked into her father's eyes as her eyes turned red and her horns grew out of her head in her anger.

"I said NO!" Charlie yelled as her voice distorted. "YOU'RE WRONG! I CHOOSE WHAT I'M GOING TO BE! I DON'T WANT TO BE A CREATURE OF DARKNESS! I AM NOT GOING TO BE! I'M GOING TO BE A GOOD PRINCESS! I'M GOING TO LEAD WHOEVER COMES INTO THOSE DOORS TO SALVATION! THOSE SOULS ARE WORTH IT AND I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU THINK!"

Satan's face fell in amazement. He sighed deeply, tapped his foot again, and put out the fire.

Charlie's form went back to normal as she realized that the building was completely restored to normal. The wood wasn't even charred.

Nonetheless, she scowled at her father and turned around without saying another word.

"This is the path you choose then?" Satan asked.

"Yes," Charlie said without looking at him. "And you're not going to change my mind! I'll prove to you that you haven't completely consumed these souls."

"You know what the consequences will be then? If you're not on my side, you are on his. As such, we will be enemies. Whatever happens, you will be on your own."

"I'll manage just fine."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes."

"Well, then. This is where I take my leave. Goodbye, Charlotte."

"Goodbye, father."

Charlie turned around just in time to see her father stand up on the edge of the balcony. She stood there resolutely without saying a word as he turned his back on her figuratively and literally. He glanced back one more time with a tear in the corner of his eye that he quickly wiped away before he tapped his cane on the ground and disappeared.

When he was finally gone, Charlie broke down in tears. Angel and Vaggie, who had been hiding and eavesdropping nearby, came out there with her. Vaggie held Charlie in a hug and let her cry on her shoulder while Angel just stood there silently looking out at the rest of hell.


	2. Chapter 2

Charlie cried all her tears and sat on the balcony overlooking hell while Vaggie left to pick up some dinner. She was sitting alone still trying to process the fact that she no longer had a family to return to. She prayed for some sort of sign to know she was doing the right thing.

Her thoughts were finally interrupted when Angel Dust walked outside with something in his arms.

"Hey there," Angel said in a surprisingly upbeat tone. "How're you doing? Would you like some company?"

Charlie nodded sadly as he turned around and showed her his pet pig.

"Look who it is," Angel said happily. "This is Fat Nuggets. She's my baby. You wanna hold her?"

Charlie wiped her tears and said, "Awww. I'd love to. She's so cute."

Angel dropped the pig into her lap and sat down next to her.

"Hey, Fat Nuggets," Charlie said with a lighter tone behind her voice as she petted the pig's little head. "You're adorable."

Fat Nuggets sniffed her face and then proceeded to lick her.

Charlie giggled and said, "Awww! You're so sweet."

"That means she likes you," Angel said lighting a cigarette and pulling out a flask from his coat pocket.

Eventually, Fat Nuggets ceased her kissing and rested on Charlie's lap like a cat.

Angel puffed on his cigarette, handed Charlie his flask, and said, "Would you like a drink?"

"I don't drink," Charlie said pushing his flask away. "But thanks."

"Suit yourself," Angel said taking a sip. "I thought I'd offer. It's a special mixture I invented for bad days. It's gotten me through many of 'em in life and in death, especially when I fought with my old man."

"You used to fight with your father?"

"Oh, God. Yes. I still do. He's a cruel son-of-a-bitch. I did his bidding my whole damn life, but when I died, I decided to live for myself. Now, he doesn't speak to me no more."

"That's terrible."

"Not really. I learned a long time ago that he only cared about me when he could use me. Once I learned that, I decided I didn't need 'im. Now, I'm much happier without him."

Charlie stared at the ground sadly for a moment before Angel smiled and said, "You will be, too."

Charlie looked back at Angel as he continued, "Take it from me, kid. If your dad can't love ya as you are, you're much better off without him. And believe me. You've got the guts to survive it. I know from experience it takes guts to stand up to your old man. You have my respect."

Charlie smiled, looked away, and said, "Thank you. That means a lot."

"No problem," Angel said standing up, putting his flask back into his coat, and opening the door leading back to the rest of the hotel as Fat Nuggets hopped off Charlie's lap to follow him. "And for the record, I'm sorry."

Angel headed back inside before Charlie could respond to the last bit.

Charlie could hardly hold in her excitement. Angel had done his first good deeds of his own volition.


End file.
